SYDNEY — The University of Sydney conducted a female-only faculty recruitment round in engineering, selecting sixteen women from approximately 600 applicants. These applicants represented over 40 countries.
The newly selected researchers are projected to increase the proportion of women among continuing academics in the engineering faculty from approximately 22 percent to 25 percent. The faculty will conduct another female-only recruitment round, with a subsequent round for aerospace, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering, and mechatronics remaining open until mid-July.
Engineers Australia identified engineering as a highly gender-imbalanced discipline within STEM fields. A 2022 study by Engineers Australia reported that women comprised 16 percent of Australian engineering graduates and 13 percent of the Australian engineering workforce. The study also indicated that many women do not pursue engineering careers due to limited exposure to the field during secondary education. The proportion of tenured women in the targeted engineering disciplines at the university ranges from 15 to 19 percent.
Materials Scientist Ashley Roach, who is American and was trained in California, stated that the women-only call made her a better candidate. She held a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Cambridge prior to applying for the position. "I think that this women-only call made me a better candidate, and maybe a better applicant because I felt like I didn't have to justify my existence in the space." Roach said. "It made me more comfortable being honest. I’m excited about doing battery and renewable energy research, and these things can be very pie-in-the-sky."
Renae Ryan, Associate Dean of Culture and Community, stated that the talent of the applicants was unexpected. "We didn’t really know what to expect, but the talent did blow us away a little bit." Ryan said. She also observed that the women-only aspect encouraged applications. "Maybe for others it was a turn-off. We don’t know who didn’t apply. But more often than not, people said they applied because it was a women-only round."